Attention to Family Issues Eases International Assignments to Mainland China

Report identifies the demographic trends of assignees going into China, the challenges families face
Report identifies the demographic trends of assignees going into China, the challenges families face

RISMEDIA, October 23, 2006?In the current environment of large scale moves into China, Worldwide ERC, the association for workforce mobility, and the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM) have surveyed companies to examine the assistance they provide to support employees and their families while on international assignments in mainland China. The report, ?2006 Expatriate Family Assistance for Mainland China,? identifies the demographic trends of assignees going into China, the challenges families face, and specific programs companies have established to address family needs. The survey also examines how these issues differ for traditional and short-term international assignments.

Among the report highlights:

The primary challenges faced by assignees? families on traditional assignments in mainland China revolve around language capability, finding comparable medical services to their home countries, and social networking issues such as establishing friendships and finding activities. The most frequently cited challenges faced by those on short-term assignments are language capability, understanding Chinese culture and social life issues.

One-fourth of respondents reported that the most common cause of ineffective job performance for assignees in mainland China is the inability of the spouse/family to adjust to the location’s cultural environment. And nearly 20% of respondents noted that the assignee?s inability to adjust to the location’s cultural environment resulted in poor job performance.

Cross-cultural training is increasingly recognized by companies as a way to mitigate the impact of culture shock for the employee and family, and develop awareness and understanding of the host culture. Of the 83% of companies that offer cross-cultural training to assignees moving to mainland China on traditional assignments, 57% provide training to all assignees and another 26% offer it to certain assignees depending on either the location or type/level of employee.

It is significant that fewer companies provide cross-cultural training to short-term assignees (41%), as the short-term assignee generally has a limited period of time to accomplish his business objectives. Having cross-cultural training could assist the short-term assignee in being more effective from the outset of an assignment as he/she won?t be struggling with cultural issues to the same extent.

Almost all companies grant assignees at least one home-leave trip annually in addition to vacation. Almost one-third of respondents also offer rest and relaxation (R&R) trips to their assignees in mainland China in addition to home leave and vacation.

For more information on the 2006 Expatriate Family Assistance for Mainland China report, contact Worldwide ERC via e-mail at
membership@erc.org.

Source: RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine, October 2006.

Real Estate Hot Topics

Profit Center: Real Estate Tips, Training & Events

RISMedia Solutions

RISMedia on the Go

Today's Featured Listing